Offenbach - Barcarolle , from 'The Tales of Hoffmann' - YouTube Offenbach - Barcarolle , from 'The Tales of Hoffmann' Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Sep 9, 2008 Title : Jacques Offenbach , Barcarolle , from 'The Tales of Hoffmann' From Wikipedia , Les contes d'Hoffmann (in English: The Tales of Hoffmann) is an opera by Jacques Offenbach. It was first performed in Paris, at the Opéra-Comique, on February 10, 1881. The libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann. E.T.A. Hoffmann himself is a character in the opera just as he often is in his stories. The stories upon which the opera is based are Der Sandmann,Rath Krespel, and Das verlorene Spiegelbild.

The opera contains a prologue, three acts and an epilogue. Offenbach did not live to see his opera performed, since he died on October 5, 1880, just over four months before its premiere. Before his death, Offenbach had completed the piano score and orchestrated the prologue and the first act. Since he did not entirely finish the writing, many different versions of this opera emerged, some bearing little resemblance to the original work. The version performed at the opera's premiere was that by Ernest Guiraud, who completed Offenbach's scoring and wrote the recitatives. The Barcarolle The most famous aria from the opera is the "Barcarolle" (Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour), which is performed in Act 2. Curiously, the aria was not written by Offenbach with Les Contes d'Hoffmann in mind. He wrote it as a ghost-song in the opera Les fées du Rhin (which premiered in Vienna on February 8, 1864 as Die Rheinnixen). Offenbach died with Les contes d'Hoffmann unfinished. Ernest Guiraud completed the scoring and wrote the recitatives for the premiere.

He also incorporated this excerpt from one of Offenbach's earlier, long-forgotten operas into the new opera. The Barcarolle has been incorporated into many movies including Life Is Beautiful and Titanic. Category The Opera Critic Reviews :: Metropolitan Opera In search of a definitive Hoffmann by Steve Cohen Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann Metropolitan Opera December 2009 I have delayed writing about the Metropolitan Opera's new production of The Tales of Hoffman, which has ended its brief run (for this season) and soon will be telecast internationally. Now I'm ready to weigh in after seeing two performances and hearing two others on Sirius radio. I have been torn between my love for the opera's familiar music and the knowledge that scholars recently found long-lost material which the composer wrote for The Tales of Hoffman and which has not been heard. The Metropolitan's decision to stick to the old music has drawn angry attacks. Critics have jumped on the production for using a "discredited" version of the score. This hyperbole is uncalled-for. Keep in mind that the world fell in love with that score of The Tales of Hoffman and remained so for a century. Let's have some perspective.

I would like to hear the recently-rediscovered music which Offenbach wrote, especially for the Venice scene which is the weakest part in the story. Also, when editors changed the range of Giulietta from a high soprano to a mezzo, it added difficulty to casting one woman for all the leading ladies, which was part of Offenbach's concept in which Hoffman keeps falling for variations of the same woman. But I cannot feel the anger of some critics when hearing what they call the "spurious" additions to that act. The Barcarolle and "Scintille Diamant" and the tango-like sextet that incorporates a return of the Barcarolle melody are beautiful numbers. Yes, it's true that arrangers added music that Offenbach had written for earlier works. But it also is true that Rodgers & Hammerstein's masterpiece, South Pacific, includes a song that they wrote for their earlier show, Allegro, and the R&H Cinderella includes a song heard in their earlier No Strings. Rossini, Donizetti and other opera composers often did the same thing.

After a century of performing the traditional version, the Met in 1993 enriched The Tales of Hoffman by adding music (written by Offenbach) for the Muse, Niklausse. The order of the acts also was changed to conform with the composer's intentions. In this new production even more music is given to Niklausse and she is on stage for a much longer time, some of it as a silent observer. So what we see now is considerably more than the accustomed version. One of the problems with The Tales of Hoffman is that it was such a change of pace for its composer. The idea that a creator of popular ditties and music hall comedies would attempt a serious grand opera made some listeners wary. Then Offenbach died before the premiere, leaving a work in progress. You can hear that he was straddling two forms. Some of the music is strophic like his early comedies, usually in simple two-verse form, and lacks development. But these catchy songs helped earn the opera its popularity. What concerns me more than the performing edition is the characterization of Hoffman, who keeps falling for unattainable women and drinks himself into oblivion rather than write. His plight is what connects us to this piece.

Even those of us without those specific problems can feel empathy. Who among us has never become infatuated with an individual who does not reciprocate our affections? And do we not, in those circumstances, look at our inamorata through rose-colored glasses? My first mentor in journalism was a talented young writer named Bob Borden. As if copying the opera's scene with the eyeglass-maker Coppï¿½lius, Bob actually came to my family's optical shop and requested that my father manufacture a special pair of specs that would change gradually. Did he want lenses that darkened in the sun, or ones that changed power as the wearer glanced downwards, giving ideal vision for distance in the top and reading in the bottom? Neither. Bob wanted lenses that would change gradually as he became high. He volunteered to go out to his car and get stoned, so as not to get anyone from my family's store into trouble, then he'd come back and let a professional recalibrate his vision. My dad was an optician, not a prescribing optometrist or ophthalmologist, so he could not help. Bob died of alcoholism. Most productions, including the Met's, stress Hoffman's misfortunes with love.

I'd like to see more focus on Hoffman's alcoholism and how it destroyed his creativity. I have empathy for Offenbach's accomplishment because of the sadness of his circumstances at that time in his life. This prime creator of Parisian entertainment was an outsider, as both a German and a Jew. Jacques Offenbach's real name was Jakob Wiener and he was born at Cologne in 1819. He moved to Paris in 1833 to study the cello and changed his first name. He founded a theatrical company in 1855, the Bouffes-Parisiens, which staged his own operettas. The reign of Napoleon III was marked by a rise in nouveau riche merchants and financiers. The emperor gave them a social status which had previously been reserved only for those who were noble-born. Royalty and the newly rich non-royals shared a fondness for ostentation, lavish living and the arts, so Louis-Philippe and his followers plunged into an era of pleasure-seeking. Grand operas required too much of listeners' time. Patrons preferred light musical entertainment and Jacques Offenbach's creations filled the need.

Soon he became the most popular composer in the new French society, creating La Vie Parisienne and La Belle Helene. Offenbach's hit comedy of 1868, La Perichole, mocked the debauchery of the Spanish empire in the previous century, indirectly implicating modern empires like his own, yet he was labeled as a supporter of the royals. In September 1870 the Prussians defeated the French in the battle at Sedan. Two days later a French Republic was declared by the mobs in Paris. German troops marched down the Champs-Elysees, the Emperor and Empress went into exile and the Second Empire came to an end. The new government opposed the frivolous entertainment that was associated with the Empire, and Offenbach's career was wrecked. Offenbach's work was denounced as being decadent and he no longer could get his musicals produced. On top of that, French hatred of the Germans spilled over to the composer.

An newspaper article called him "a Prussian at heart" and hostile writers called him, derisively, "Herr Offenbach." (That he could be denounced as a representative of the French Empire and also of its enemy, Prussia, made no sense, of course.) Ill with gout, and depressed, Offenbach began work on The Tales of Hoffman, which portrayed the life of a troubled and alcoholic writer. Before its premiere, Offenbach died on October 5, 1880, at the age of 61. Turning to the specifics of this production, director Bartlett Sher goes in the right direction when he shows Hoffman at a typewriter, producing pages of dialogue. The character, after all, is based on the author and dramatist ETA Hoffman (an alcoholic who died at the age of 46.) Most productions have Hoffman conversationally recall his past to his fellow-drinkers, but Sher's character demonstrates that he has been an accomplished and creative author. He wrote adventures in disparate locales, and Sher and set-designer Michael Yeargan delineate them as a fantastical salon in Paris, a desolate home in Munich and a bawdy Venetian waterfront.

The individual performances were better than one would have expected. Joseph Calleja, the Maltese tenor taking over the title role from the indisposed Rolando Villazon, was sweet of voice and very appealing. Alan Held replaced the better-known Renï¿½ Pape as the four villains and did a fine job. His hulking physique and bald head made his characters appropriately threatening. Anna Netrebko originally was scheduled to portray all four of Hoffman's romantic interests, as Beverly Sills and others have done in the past. I'm glad she didn't. Netrebko was plaintive as the doomed singer Antonia. But a petite newcomer, Kathleen Kim, glittered as the wind-up doll, Olympia, and in the second verse of her aria she interpolated high notes that Netrebko wouldn't have reached. Then Kim was replaced in two performances by her cover, a young American woman named Rachele Gilmore, who flew up to solid and beautiful high G's and one A-flat (that's four-and-a-half notes above high C.) Such notes had never been heard at the Met in this part. I was lucky to see and hear her.

Mezzo Ekaterina Gubanova sang the gold-digging courtesan, Giulietta, in the Venetian scene. Because the part lies low, she fit in better than Netrebko would have. But this illustrates the best of all reasons for using Offenbach's original version of that act: He wrote it for a coloratura soprano, so it would sound effective when done by the same performer who sang Olympia and Antonia and who appeared in the non-singing role of Stella. (The challenge of having one singer sound good in all the parts is daunting indeed. In productions in the 1920s Lucrezia Bori appeared as both Giulietta and Antonia, but the higher-voiced Nina Morgana was Olympia. On other occasions the doll's music has been transposed down.) Kate Lindsey made a strong impression as a Niklausse who resembled Marlene Dietrich. James Levine led this opera for the first time in his career, romantically and lushly.

Photo: © Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera Text: © Steve Cohen "Tales of Hoffman' at the Met | Broad Street Review "Tales of Hoffman' at the Met Google+ Kim and Calleja: Notes Netrebko couldn't reach. Critics have jumped on the Metropolitan Opera's new production of The Tales of Hoffman for using a "discredited" version of the Offenbach score. After seeing two performances and hearing two others on Sirius radio, I believe this overkill is uncalled for. I've been torn between my love for the opera's familiar music and the knowledge that scholars recently found long-lost material that the composer wrote for The Tales of Hoffman and that was never used. The Met's decision to stick to the old music has drawn angry responses. I too would like to hear Offenbach's recently-rediscovered music, especially for the Giulietta scene in Venice, which is the weakest part in the story. Also, when the Met's arrangers and editors changed the range of Giulietta from a high soprano to a mezzo, it added difficulty to casting one woman for all the leading ladies, which was part of Offenbach's concept in which Hoffman keeps falling for variations of the same woman.

But I cannot feel the anger of some critics when hearing what they call the "spurious" additions to that act, such as the gorgeous Barcarolle and "Scintille Diamant" and the tango-like sextet that incorporates a return of the Barcarolle melody. Those are beautiful numbers. But let's have some perspective. After a century of performing the traditional version, the Met in 1993 enriched The Tales of Hoffman by adding music (written by Offenbach) for the Muse, Niklausse. The order of the acts also was changed to conform to the composer's intentions. In last month's production, even more music is given to Niklausse, and she's on stage for a much longer time, some of it as a silent observer. So what we see now is considerably more than the accustomed version. Offenbach's change of pace One of the problems with The Tales of Hoffman is that it was such a change of pace for its composer. The idea that a creator of popular ditties and music hall comedies would attempt a serious grand opera is impressive. Then Offenbach died before the premiere, leaving a work in progress.

When you listen to Hoffman you can hear that Offenbach was straddling two forms. Some of the music is strophic like his early comedies, usually in simple two-verse form, and lacks development. But these songs are catchy, and they helped earn the opera its popularity. What concerns me more than any musical changes is the opera's characterization of Hoffman, who keeps falling for unattainable women and drinks himself into oblivion rather than write. His plight is what connects us to this piece. Even those of us without those specific problems can feel empathy. Most productions, including the Met's, stress Hoffman's misfortunes with love as he keeps falling for variations of the same woman. His Muse concludes that a man who suffers becomes a better writer. That aside, I'd like to see greater focus on Hoffman's alcoholic torment— partly because I've known more than a few talented writers who died of alcoholism, and partly because Hoffman's character provides insight into Offenbach himself. Keep it light This prime creative force of Parisian cultural life was nevertheless an outsider, as both a German and a Jew.

Offenbach rose to prominence in the 1850s on the coattails of Napoleon III, who granted nouveaux riches merchants and financiers a social status previously reserved only for the noble-born. Royalty and the newly rich non-royals shared a fondness for ostentation and the arts, so the emperor and his followers plunged into an era of pleasure seeking. Offenbach's comic operettas like La Périchole, La Belle Helene and La Vie Parisienne filled the need of this new elite for light musical entertainment, as opposed to long, heavy operas. But Napoleon III's defeat and exile at the hands of Prussia in 1870 marked the death of frivolous entertainment in Paris, and consequently the ruin of Offenbach's career. Ill with gout, and depressed, Offenbach began work on the most serious opera of his career, The Tales of Hoffman, which itself portrayed the life of a depressed and alcoholic writer. But before its premiere, Offenbach died on October 5, 1880, at the age of 61.

A deeper Hoffman In the current Met production, director Bartlett Sher goes in the right direction when he shows Hoffman at a typewriter, producing pages of dialogue. Most productions have Hoffman conversationally recall his past to his fellow-drinkers, but Sher's character demonstrates that he has been a creative author. He has written adventures placed in three disparate locales, and Sher and set-designer Michael Yergan delineate them as a fantastical salon in Paris, a desolate home in Munich and a bawdy Venetian waterfront. The individual performances were better than I would have expected. Joseph Calleja, the Maltese tenor taking over the title role from the indisposed Rolando Villazon, was sweet of voice and very appealing. Alan Held replaced the better-known René Pape as the four villains and did a fine job. His hulking physique and bald head rendered his characters appropriately threatening. Notes Netrebko couldn't reach Anna Netrebko originally was scheduled to portray all four of Hoffman's romantic interests, as Beverly Sills and others have done in the past. I'm glad she didn't. Netrebko was plaintive as the doomed singer Antonia.

But a petite newcomer, Kathleen Kim, glittered as the wind-up doll, Olympia, and in the second verse of her aria she interpolated high notes that Netrebko wouldn't have reached. Then Kim was replaced in two performances by her cover, a young American woman named Rachele Gilmore, who flew up to solid and beautiful high G's and one A-flat (that's five notes above high C) that has never been heard at the Met in this part. I felt lucky to see and hear her. Mezzo Ekaterina Gubanova sang the gold-digging courtesan, Giulietta, in the Venetian scene. Because the part lies low, she fit in better than Netrebko would have. But this illustrates the best of all reasons for using Offenbach's original version of that act: He wrote it for a coloratura soprano, so it would sound effective when sung by the same performer who sang Olympia and Antonia and who appeared in the non-singing role of Stella. Kate Lindsey made a strong impression as Niklausse, channeling the persona of Marlene Dietrich. James Levine led this opera for the first time in his career, romantically and lushly.

Hoffman has ended its brief Met run (for this season) and soon will be telecast internationally.♦ To read a 2012 follow-up by Steve Cohen, click here . ♦ Google+ Article Overview Nit-picking critics have jumped on the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Tales of Hoffman for using a “discredited” version of the Offenbach score. A more valid criticism is the treatment of the opera's central character, which is key to our understanding of the composer himself. What, When, Where The Tales of Hoffman. Opera by Jacques Offenbach; directed by Bartlett Sher; James Levine conducted. Metropolitan Opera production ended January 3, 2010 at Lincoln Center, New York. 212-362-6000 or . About Steve Cohen Steve Cohen is a writer and broadcaster who thinks of himself as a cultural historian rather than being labeled "critic." Broadway librettist and director Richard Maltby Jr suggested that he should just identify himself as “a music and theater lover with a big mouth.” Steve also produced and narrated histories of the Philadelphia Orchestra and other musical organizations for public radio.

Also of Interest Lesson Tutor: Classical Composer Biography Jacques Offenbach You are HERE >> Music : General: Classical Composer Biographies Classical Composer Biography: Jacques Offenbach December 29, 2001 For my first article in this series on Classical Composers, I am going to begin with Jacques Offenbach, whose lovely melodies from 'The Tales of Hoffman' I am listening to even as I write these words. His work can be said to belong to the years between 1825 and 1900 which, by musicians, is referred to as the Romantic Era. Musical styles of this time can be described as rich and dramatic whether instrumental or vocal, and very often were songs, or music, that told a story. Although of German-Jewish origins, Offenbach has come to be thought of as essentially a French composer because of his great regard for Paris and its ways, to which he became addicted.

He was born Jacob Eberst in 1819, but his father changed the family name to Offenbach after he had left his hometown Offenbach-am-Main and settled in Cologne, and it was there, while earning a living from composition, music teaching, and book binding that he became known to his colleagues as 'Der Offenbacher'. The tale is told of how, as a boy, Offenbach was taught to play the violin, but was discouraged from learning the cello. However he wanted to play the cello so much he would secretly practice on his father's instrument, and then one day amazed everyone by taking part in a string quartet when the real cellist failed to turn up. He went on to make it his particular instrument. Although admitted to the Paris Conservatoire he found academic studies little to his liking, and left to become a member of the orchestra at the Opera-Comique. And whilst he was almost certainly inspired by the tuneful operas of Donizetti and Nicolai which he heard while in the orchestra pit, Offenbach was the main founder of 'operetta' (light opera with dialogue).

This was a genre which led toward the musical theatre of the 20th century, and a distinctly separate world of popular music. He began to compose dance music and songs and made a reputation as an eccentric cello virtuoso, visiting London in 1844 in that role. But his success as a performer contrasted with his lack of success as a composer. The airy, sometimes pointed songs and music that he wrote was not viewed well by the Parisian musical theatre establishment. In an effort to overcome this he leased and opened his own theatre, Les Bouffes-Parisiens, a tiny place where he produced one act plays. But limited in scope by lack of space and the whims of the licensing laws he moved to a larger theatre where he at last made an impression in 1858 with his scintillating and shockingly satirical ‘Orpheus in the Underworld' , and thereafter produced a constant stream of lively, witty, and melodious operettas that became the vogue of the major capitals of the world. Much of his music is uniquely comic, and many of his numbers are composed in the style of the lively can-can dance with which the world particularly associates him.

But there is also a fine lyrically romantic strain in his songs, and in his little known cello music. Offenbach's writing has a very special quality. While basically simple and always tuneful, there is a touch of wistful melancholy running through even the most lively of his works. He was dubbed by Rossini 'The Mozart of the Champs-Elysées', the most fashionable boulevard in Paris. This was a pleasant assertion of both the genius and the Frenchness of the composer from Cologne who gave his Parisian audiences exactly what they wanted; music that sparkled like champagne and was tailor made to please. Offenbach brought the same deft touch and gift for melody to his more serious opera, 'The Tales of Hoffman', regarded by many as his greatest work, and is I think my favourite piece of music. The moment I hear its lovely melodies I am filled with delight. In 1844 he married Herminie d'Alcain and had four daughters. In 1849 he was appointed conductor of the Theatre Francais.

In 1855 he became manager of his own theatre, Booffes-Parisiens And in 1876 he visited the United States for the US Centennial Exhibition. While he was there he conducted two of his comic operas 'La vie parisienne' and 'Le jolie parfumeuse', and also gave as many as 40 concerts in New York and Philadelphia. But it seems the audiences there were a little disappointed to find that the man who had scandalized the musical world with his 'Orpheus' was really quite a mild and likeable fellow. Nevertheless the visit must have made quite an impression on the composer because he wrote a book about his experiences there when he returned to Paris, which would be a very interesting read. However like most comedians he wanted to be taken seriously, and his last ambition was to compose a great work that he might be remembered by. So much of his previous music had been of a light and frivolous nature and he was aware that it might not stand the test of time. From this desire 'The Tales of Hoffman' was born.

Although no longer well he strove to complete the piece, but death denied him the chance of arranging it for an orchestra - a task later carried out by Ernest Guiraud. Based on the strange tales of the German writer E.T.A. Hoffman, the opera contains some of Offenbach's loveliest melodies including the famous 'barcarolle'. The five act opera tells of the bizarre adventure of the poet Hoffman and his tragic quest for love. On his travels he meets three beautiful women, but each encounter has a tragic ending. The 'Barcarolle' which is the most famous piece of the opera, comes at the start of Act IV. Set in a Venetian palace, the beautiful courtesan Giulietta holds a party, and the guests sing the romantic barcarolle. In this particular tale, Guilietta ends up tricking Hoffman by stealing his reflection - and his soul. Originally derived from the songs of the Venetian gondoliers, the term 'barcarolle' has come to describe boat songs in general, whether arranged for voice or instrument. A major characteristic of the 'barcarolle' is its steady flowing rhythm.

Offenbach died in Paris on the 5th October 1880, but in 1881 the posthumous premiere of 'The Tales of Hoffman' was performed. Submitted by: © Betty Fry Author of two Electronic Books plus Articles for magazines and newspapers and successfully self published a book of short stories. Lived for some years in East Africa, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Aden. Travelled from England to the Antipodes on a Polish Container ship to finally make my home in New Zealand. Link to her Books 'Adam Grant' and 'Simon's Story' found at A Night at the Opera – “The Tales of Hoffman” | Hanoi Grapevine A Night at the Opera – “The Tales of Hoffman” A Night at the Opera – “The Tales of Hoffman” Fri 29 Apr 2016, 7 pm Cinematheque From the organizer: Come to the screening of a classic production of Jacques Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffman”, an opera often categorized as an “Opera Fantastique”. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann. Hoffmann is the protagonist in the opera.

Offenbach did not live to see his opera performed. He died on October 5, 1880, four months before its premiere, but after completing the piano score and orchestrating the prologue and first act. Many versions of the opera have been performed, the version we will screen is considered one of the most important versions in the history of opera in cinema. The opera will be performed in English, with English subtitles. Make a reservation by phoning the Cinémathèque, daily between 14:00 – 21:00 at 3936-2648. The most famous aria from the opera is The Barcarolle: Hanoi Cinematheque 22A Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội At the end of the alley leading to Artist’s Hotel TAGS Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

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 Comedy Show with Gina Yashere Game On 18 and 20 Nov – HN & HCMC – Stand-up comedy shows with Gina Yashere, the irrepressible and multiple award-winning UK comic HCMC - "The Prolonged Interventions" by Le Phi Long The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre 10 Dec – 22 Jan – HCMC – Exhibition of photographs, installation and video documentary about the environmental endeavor ‘Clean Up the Beach’ on Ly Son Island HCMC - Exhibition "The Three-Cornered World" Galerie Quynh 27 Dec 2016 – 26 Jan 2017 – HCMC – Group exhibition of hopeful, contemplative artworks by Ha Manh Thang, Sandrine Llouquet, Christine Nguyen, Nguyen Huy An, Tran Van Thao The Tales of Hoffmann | opera by Offenbach | Britannica.com The Tales of Hoffmann Alternative Title: “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” Related Topics Brief excerpt from the barcarole “ Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour, ” also … Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour, ” also called … The Tales of Hoffmann, French

 Les Contes d’Hoffmann, opera by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach , with a French libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier, the latter of whom was a coauthor of the play of the same name, from which the opera was derived.

The opera premiered in Paris on February 10, 1881. It was the last and easily the most serious of the many Offenbach operas. Its premiere came posthumously. Left unfinished at Offenbach’s death, the work was completed by the composer’s colleagues. The opera is perhaps best known for its barcarolle “ Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour, ” originally a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano , though often heard in instrumental transcriptions. Background and context Like the play, the opera is based on three of the psychologically complicated and fantastic stories of the German Romantic author and composer E.T.A. Hoffmann . Those stories are “ Der Sandmann Die Geschichte vom verlorenen Spiegelbilde ” (“ The Story of the Lost Reflection ”). The opera was intended for the 1877–78 season at Paris’s Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique, though Offenbach missed the deadline by a large margin. When he died in 1880, he had not yet finished its last acts.

Determined to bring the work to the stage, the theatre’s managers brought in composer Ernest Guiraud to finish the opera in time for its long-delayed premiere. Further revisions followed. Jacques Offenbach. © Photos.com/Jupiterimages The Tales of Hoffmann has no “official” version. Among the points of debate among music historians are Offenbach’s intentions regarding sung recitatives versus spoken dialogue . Even the order of the opera’s acts has been varied. The opera opens and closes with scenes of Hoffmann’s obsession with Stella, an opera singer. In between are visions of his passions for three other women. Offenbach’s original plan was that those three acts would serve as a kind of spiritual journey from youthful infatuation (the Olympia act) through mature love (the Antonia act) to the indulgences of an idle wastrel (the Giulietta act). In contemporary performance, however, the second and third acts are sometimes switched. Further, some companies label the Prologue as Act I and renumber the succeeding acts accordingly. The structure shown in the synopsis below is one of several variations.

Similar Topics Requiem in D Minor, K 626 Given the debate, not only opera directors but also conductors and musicologists have taken on the task of reimagining Hoffmann. Numerous alternate versions exist, each with its own advocates. One particularly notable version was crafted by American musicologist Michael Kaye, who, in studying Offenbach’s original drafts, restored music for the muse Nicklausse and expanded the Giulietta act, increasing its dramatic impact. For musicological and theatrical reasons, those and other changes that Kaye suggests attracted a strong following, and it may yet become the standard version of Hoffmann. Also problematic is the number of singers required for the principal roles. In each act, the leading tenor is the character of Hoffmann. However, the principal baritone is named Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr. Miracle, or Dapertutto, depending on the scene at hand. The featured soprano may take the role of each of Hoffmann’s loves—Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta, and Stella—in turn.

Evidence reveals that Offenbach intended one soprano to perform all the roles and one baritone as well, so as to clarify the notion that those different characters are different aspects of a single personality. Baritones have not protested, as their four roles resemble each other in music style. The four soprano roles, however, make quite different demands upon the voice—from light coloratura to intense drama—so it requires an exceptional soprano to take on all roles.

Councillor Lindorf ( bass or baritone ) Andrès, Stella’s servant ( tenor ) Luther, a tavern-keeper (bass or baritone) Nathanaël, a student (tenor) Herrmann, a student (bass or baritone) Hoffmann, a poet (tenor) Coppélius, an evil scientist (bass or baritone) Olympia, a life-sized doll ( soprano ) Giulietta, a Venetian courtesan (soprano) Schlémil, her lover (bass or baritone) Pittichinaccio, a dwarf (tenor) Dapertutto, an evil magician (bass or baritone) Antonia, a young singer (soprano) Crespel, her father (bass or baritone) Frantz, his servant (tenor) Dr. Miracle, a charlatan (bass or baritone) Voice of Antonia’s Mother (soprano or mezzo-soprano) Stella, a diva (soprano) Party guests, servants, dancers, entertainers Setting and story summary The Tales of Hoffmann is set in Germany and Italy in the early 19th century.

Prologue Prismatic Playlist Volume 1 Luther’s Tavern, Nuremberg . The Spirits of Wine and Beer begin their revels. The Muse of the poet Hoffmann declares that Hoffmann must choose between her and his love for Stella, an opera singer. The Muse will disguise herself as Nicklausse, Hoffmann’s friend, to watch him. Councillor Lindorf appears and gives Andrès, Stella’s servant, a bribe to steal a note from Stella to Hoffmann that contains her dressing room key. Students crowd into the tavern, along with Nicklausse and Hoffmann, who is moody. The students encourage him to drink and sing them a song. He regales them with the ballad of the dwarf Kleinzach, but he is soon distracted by memories of past loves. Lindorf and Hoffmann insult each other, and Hoffmann is left with a sense of doom. When the students rib Hoffmann about his passion for Stella, he begins to tell them the story of his three great loves. Act I (the Olympia act) Spalanzani’s house. The inventor Spalanzani is preparing for a party.

He admires what appears to be a girl behind a curtain in his parlour—but she is actually a life-sized mechanical doll. He hopes that this invention will help him recoup his investment losses in the Élias bank. He fears, however, that his rival Coppélius will try to extort money from him by claiming to have some rights to the doll. Hoffmann arrives, and Spalanzani sings the praises of his “daughter” Olympia. Spalanzani leaves the room, and Hoffmann finds Olympia, whom he has seen briefly before, apparently asleep. He is already deeply in love with her. Nicklausse appears and teasingly sings him a song about a living doll. Coppélius arrives and sells Hoffmann a pair of magic eyeglasses that will allow Hoffmann to see into a person’s soul. The eyeglasses make Olympia appear completely human to Hoffmann. Spalanzani and Coppélius argue over their respective contributions to the invention of Olympia, and Spalanzani eventually gives Coppélius a check (drawn on the failed bank) to split the presumed profits. The other guests arrive, and Spalanzani introduces Olympia. She performs a brilliant aria .

Although she has to be rewound several times, Hoffmann remains infatuated. When he touches her, she whirls out of the room. Nicklausse tries to tell him that she is not human, but Hoffmann will not listen. Coppélius returns, enraged that Spalanzani’s check has bounced. A waltz begins, and Hoffmann and Olympia dance increasingly faster until Hoffmann falls and breaks the magic eyeglasses. Coppélius takes his vengeance on Spalanzani by smashing Olympia. Hoffmann, horrified, must at last accept that Olympia was not human. Act II (the Giulietta act) Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Giulietta’s palazzo on the Grand Canal , Venice . Nicklausse and the courtesan Giulietta sing a romantic barcarolle . Hoffmann then sings a cynical ditty about carnal pleasures. Giulietta’s jealous lover Schlémil watches Hoffmann resentfully. Nicklausse warns Hoffmann not to fall in love with Giulietta. Hoffmann replies that if he should fall in love with her, the devil can take his soul. The evil magician Dapertutto overhears this.

He bribes Giulietta with a diamond to rob Hoffmann of his reflection by seduction, in the same way that she has already stolen Schlémil’s shadow for Dapertutto. Giulietta proceeds to seduce Hoffmann, who falls in love immediately and agrees to give her his reflection. Schlémil interrupts them and accuses Giulietta of infidelity. Dapertutto remarks on how pale Hoffmann is. Hoffmann looks in a mirror and is horrified to find that he has no reflection. Still ensnared by his passion for Giulietta, he demands that Schlémil give him the key to Giulietta’s room. Schlémil refuses. Dapertutto gives Hoffmann a sword with which to fight his rival in a duel. Schlémil is killed. Hoffmann rushes off to find Giulietta but sees her sailing away in a gondola with her new lover, the dwarf Pittichinaccio. Nicklausse drags Hoffmann away. Act III (the Antonia act) Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Crespel’s house, Munich .

Crespel’s daughter Antonia, accompanying herself on the harpsichord , sings a sad love song. Crespel urges her to give up singing, because it will make her ill, but Antonia is inspired by the memory of her late mother’s beautiful voice and cannot help but sing. Crespel blames Hoffmann for Antonia’s desire to sing; Crespel had brought her to Munich expressly to get her away from the poet. As he leaves the house, Crespel orders Frantz, his partially deaf servant, not to let anyone in the house during his absence. Alone, Frantz tries, and fails, to sing and dance. Hoffmann arrives with Nicklausse, who urges the poet to concentrate solely on poetry. But Hoffmann ignores Nicklausse and declares his love to Antonia. They sing a duet until Antonia becomes faint. When Crespel arrives, Antonia flees the room, and Hoffmann hides. Crespel is dismayed by the arrival of the ominous Dr. Miracle, who had treated Crespel’s wife before she died and who Crespel believes will kill his daughter as well. Hoffmann eavesdrops on their conversation.

Even though Antonia is not in the room, the doctor declares that he can perceive that her pulse is irregular. He orders her to sing, and her voice is heard from somewhere in the house. Although Dr. Miracle claims that he can save the girl, Crespel throws him out. Antonia returns, and Hoffmann begs her to give up singing. Reluctantly she promises to do so. Hoffmann departs, telling her that he will come back the next day. Then Dr. Miracle reappears and tries to beguile the girl with visions of becoming a famous singer. Antonia calls upon her mother’s portrait to help her. When the doctor magically brings the portrait to life, Antonia’s mother urges Antonia to sing with her. With Dr. Miracle frenetically accompanying her on the violin , Antonia sings until she falls to the ground. She dies in her grieving father’s arms. Hoffmann arrives. Crespel threatens to kill him, but Nicklausse intercedes. When Hoffmann calls for a doctor, Dr. Miracle reappears and pronounces Antonia dead. Crespel and Hoffmann despairingly cry out to her.

Epilogue Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 Luther’s Tavern. Back at Luther’s Tavern, applause for Stella’s performance is heard in the distance, and Lindorf swears to make her his. Nicklausse realizes that each woman in the three Hoffmann stories—Olympia the doll, Giulietta the courtesan, and Antonia the singer—represents a different side of Stella. He proposes a toast to Stella, which at first enrages Hoffmann, but the poet decides just to drink himself into oblivion. As he does so, the Muse magically reappears, and he declares his love for her. He falls into a drunken stupor just as Stella enters. She goes off with Lindorf, and the students continue their revels. But the Muse finally has Hoffmann to herself.

Question: Who composed the music for the opera The Tales of Hoffman?
Answer: Jacques Offenbach